Officer Franek recalls day he risked life trying to save Steve Arkell

BRENTWOOD — It was 4 p.m. and Fremont Police officer Derek Franek had just signed on for duty.

Jason Schreiber

BRENTWOOD — It was 4 p.m. and Fremont Police officer Derek Franek had just signed on for duty.

He and Fremont Police Chief Jon Twiss were making small talk about the Bruins and Canadiens and the police activity that day.

Then the chief got a call that would forever change their lives.

Brentwood Police officer Steve Arkell was responding to a call about a verbal domestic dispute in Brentwood and needed backup.

Franek got in his cruiser and headed to Brentwood.

It sounded like a routine domestic call at first, but soon Franek realized it was anything but routine.

Moments later he would find himself under intense fire inside a home riddled with bullets.

And he would find Arkell shot dead.

Franek has been called a hero for running into the home on Mill Pond Road to help Arkell and relaying critical information to police, but he doesn't see it that way.

"It's hard to feel like a hero when you lost somebody," he said.

Two months after the deadly shooting on May 12, Franek returned to police work last Thursday.

Still grieving for his fallen brother and trying to heal his own emotional wounds, Franek recounted the horrific scene he encountered that day for the first time in an interview with The Exeter News-Letter.

"Something like this could end careers for some people. I'm just fortunate that I'm back. I've had amazing support," said Franek, who still thinks about the pain the Arkell family has felt ever since that day.

The police call took a tragic turn just as soon as Arkell stepped through the front door. Authorities said he was immediately shot and killed by Michael Nolan.

While en route to the scene, Franek said he called Rockingham County dispatch for an update on the situation. He was told that it was a "heated verbal domestic" between a father and son later identified as Michael Nolan, 47, and Walter Nolan, 86.

As the situation escalated, dispatch initiated a "signal 1000" — a call that's usually made by an officer when a situation becomes more serious and only police dealing with the incident are allowed on the radio frequency.

"Their instincts were spot on, which obviously helped me a great deal. They deserve a lot of credit, too. Without them heightening my sense of alertness I don't know how things could have turned out," Franek said.

Just as he turned onto Mill Pond Road, Franek said he was told that dispatch had received reports of shots being fired from inside the home and that Arkell couldn't be reached on his radio.

Franek arrived at the home and found Walter Nolan outside the residence. No one else was outside in the neighborhood.

"He just seemed totally casual," Franek said.

Franek placed him in handcuffs for safety reasons because he couldn't rule him out as a suspect initially. He told the elder Nolan to stay on the ground.

Franek asked Nolan about Arkell's whereabouts, whether anyone else was inside, and if shots had been fired.

"He just kept saying 'I don't know.' It was not making sense and he didn't seem clear of mind so that's why I made the decision to temporarily detain him until I could figure out what was going on," Franek recalled.

After placing Nolan in handcuffs, Franek began to hear screams coming from inside the home. At the time, he didn't know that it was Michael Nolan screaming.

"It was this loud angry screaming coming from the residence. I went around to the back of the house just to get some type of intel about what was going on, if it was a one-sided argument, if it was the officer, Steve Arkell, and Nolan arguing," he said.

Franek hoped to find an alternative entry into the residence through the back.

He knew the situation was dire and had a strong suspicion that Arkell had been shot. He made up his mind to go inside because he said he felt he couldn't wait for backup officers.

"I knew he was hit. I knew he needed help. I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself and the regret and what ifs. ...; I went in there to engage the shooter and I didn't know if I was going to make it out of that house alive or not," said Franek, a former Marine who once worked for the Brentwood Police Department.

Franek was unable to enter through the back because of a high deck, so he found himself with no choice but to go in through the front.

He turned down his radio so Nolan couldn't hear him and went in.

"My biggest fears were realized when I first walked into the house. I could immediately see there was drywall dust all over the floor. The wall was completely peppered with rounds," he said.

He said it looked like a fully automatic machine gun had sprayed the wall.

"I was fully preparing myself to get into a gun battle. I had my gun drawn," he said.

The downstairs was an open concept and gave Franek no cover. He never saw Nolan, but he knew he was in an elevated position, possibly on a landing area at the top of the stairs or behind a half-wall that ran down the stairs.

Nolan had a view of the front and back of the home, Franek said.

"When I made the decision to go in, I (went in) quickly and I didn't announce it because I wanted to have the element of surprise," Franek said, adding that he also didn't tell dispatch he was entering because he didn't want Nolan to hear it on Arkell's police radio.

While there were reports of gunfire before he arrived, Franek said he heard no shots between the time he first arrived at the scene and the time he entered the home.

Franek tried to conceal himself by staying close to the wall along the stairs so Nolan couldn't see him.

Almost immediately after entering, Franek said Nolan began firing from above. He said it sounded like a semi or fully automatic firearm.

"I stopped because I knew he couldn't see me. In my experience and training I knew in an ambush situation you engage the shooter directly. You push through. You never retreat in an ambush. So I was taking fire and I knew he was trying to shoot me, but I just don't think he could see me," Franek said.

He added, "I didn't have any cover. All I had was concealment. Concealment is what I believe saved my life. He was shooting probably only two to three feet away from me."

After at least 20 rounds were fired, the gunfire stopped.

Franek assumed Nolan was likely going to reload so he ran toward the back.

He remembered the back deck and knew he had to get out of the house. That's when he saw Arkell on the floor.

"It was obvious, as I was running toward the back, toward Steve, he was down and I had 100 percent certainty he was deceased," Franek said.

Realizing there was nothing he could do to help Arkell, and facing the threat of more gunfire coming from upstairs, Franek ran from the house and jumped approximately 15 feet off the deck.

He was in the house for only about 30 seconds, but he said it felt like hours.

Franek said he never returned fire because he couldn't see his target.

As soon as he got out of the house, Franek darted underneath the deck and quickly radioed dispatchers to report that Arkell was down and that he had taken fire from an elevated position.

"Dispatch asked me if I wanted them to send the SWAT team and I told them to send everybody because I knew we were dealing with something that was pretty serious," Franek said.

Franek also indicated to dispatch that he believed Arkell was deceased.

He remained close to the side of the house so Nolan couldn't see him as he ran around to secure the front to make sure he didn't get out.

Franek remained on the corner of the house and could hear Nolan taking potshots from inside.

"Now my concern was for the safety of the community because I knew there was nothing I could do for officer Arkell. I knew I needed to contain the shooter and I just kept my eyes on that front door to make sure he didn't come out," he said.

On two occasions, Franek said he had to expose himself by leaving his position on the corner of the house to run out to the street to turn cars around as motorists unaware of the dangerous situation tried to pass through. He said he feared they could get caught in the crossfire.

Officers from Kingston were the first to arrive after Franek called for backup.

Even as smoke began to pour from the house after Nolan set fires inside, Franek remained on the side of the residence for about an hour because the dozens of officers who arrived and began setting up a perimeter couldn't get to him as they would have become a target.

"Nobody could support me because they could have become caught in the crossfire," he said.

As officers began to arrive, Nolan began firing out the back of the house and then the front.

Twiss rushed to the scene as soon as he heard Franek over the radio reporting to dispatch that an officer was down and shots were fired.

After he arrived, Twiss said he wasn't able to reach Franek on the radio because there was so much radio traffic and he couldn't see him from his vantage point.

Twiss ducked behind a tree when the shots stopped and called Franek on his cellphone.

"I didn't know if he got shot. I didn't know anything," Twiss said.

With his pistol in one hand, Franek answered the cellphone in the other and explained what happened. Twiss also asked Franek to give detailed description of Arkell's wounds. Twiss said those critical details were quickly passed on to officers at the scene.

"Obviously everyone wanted to go in to save Steve. It was obvious from what Derek saw that he was deceased," Twiss said. "A large number of officers were ready to go cave in the front door and do what he did because we didn't know what Derek did. We didn't know if Derek was in there initially until I talked to him on the phone."

Nolan continued to shoot outside toward the officers.

"I could see the rounds hitting the dirt and the lawn across the street. It was rapid fire. It was almost like fully automatic. It sounded like a war zone to me, not that I've ever been in a war zone, but the number of shots being fired was unbelievable," Twiss said.

A Portsmouth Police officer from the Seacoast Emergency Response Team, a local SWAT team, approached Franek at one point and asked if he was OK and wanted to leave the side of the house. Franek said he wanted to stay.

"He gave me the opportunity to evacuate and leave, but I felt I was still functional and capable," said Franek, who remained with that SERT officer until State Police SWAT members showed up and removed them when they took command.

Shortly after Franek left the side of the house, the building exploded in a blast seen on live television.

Michael Nolan was later found dead, but his cause of death has not been released.

Twiss said he feels Franek's actions that day were heroic, adding that more officers likely would have gone inside to try to help Arkell if Franek hadn't entered when he did and discovered the fallen officer.

"If it wasn't for Derek we wouldn't have had that information and it would have turned out differently," Twiss said.

Franek has replayed the scene over and over in his head in the weeks since the tragedy.

Minutes seemed like hours to Franek that day.

Just three minutes passed from the time he arrived in his cruiser, entered the home, exited and radioed dispatch to report that Arkell was down.

Franek has received a congressional letter of recognition, letters of support, and a coin honoring New Hampshire's fallen officers that he carries with him every day.

"I just felt I was effective. I did my job and thank God it didn't get worse than it did and I was able to relay some valuable information that kept other officers from going into that house," he said.

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